Did Brown, Mayberry Jr., Frandsen and Ruf do enough in to earn larger roles with the 2013 Phillies?

PHILADELPHIA — — Dom Brown seems to float when he strides around the bases, has a cannon for an arm and has improved drastically in pressure situations at the plate.

He may not be in the Phillies' starting lineup on Opening Day 2013.

John Mayberry Jr. got more plate appearances in 2012 — nearly 500 — than he'd had in any other season, and was relied upon heavily down the stretch, starting 34 of the club's last 37 games.

He may not be in the Phillies' starting lineup on Opening Day.

Kevin Frandsen hit .338 in 55 games from July 29 on. Only once did he go hitless in back-to-back games.

He may not be in the Phillies' starting lineup on Opening Day.

Darin Ruf wound up hitting 42 home runs between the minor and major leagues this year. He accounted for all five of the Phillies' RBIs in their final three games.

He may not be in the Phillies' starting lineup on Opening Day.

Predicting how much those guys, and others — namely Erik Kratz and Nate Schierholtz — will contribute in 2013 is as challenging as figuring out what kind of winter we should prepare for.

But one thing is clear about Brown, Mayberry, Frandsen and Ruf: General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. doesn't seem to be sold on any of their names being among the starting nine when the Phillies open the season April 1 in Atlanta.

"I think all those guys have ability," Amaro said during a press conference last week. "Whether or not they can be everyday players for us for a championship-caliber club, we're not sure yet."

At first glance, Brown's 2012 numbers appear to be comparable to his 2011 stats. In the same number of games (56) and just two more plate appearances (212 to 210), his home run, walks, doubles, triples and strikeout totals are all within four of each other. He drove in seven more runs this year (26 to 19), but hit 10 points lower (.235 to .245).

But in breaking down his stats, Brown boasts some encouraging numbers. His batting average with runners in scoring position went up from .196 to .319. And when he was ahead in the count last year, he batted only .220. He pushed that up to .288 this year. When he was behind in the count in 2011, he hit just .179. In 2012, he hit .267.

Defensively, though, he looked shaky at times. Making reads on balls still seemed like a struggle and he certainly didn't take the best routes to balls.

"He's definitely improving," manager Charlie Manuel said. "The more consistent he gets, of course, that's when he's going to become what you call a big-league hitter. It's definitely going to take some playing time. And I think his defense is getting better. He's learned quite a bit, but I think he's still in that development stage. He's still got to put in a lot of work. He hits the ball hard and he's got some power. He shows you he's got a chance to be a good hitter. When? I don't know."

Once the Phillies traded Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence at the July 31 deadline, it opened the door for Mayberry to become a regular in the outfield. He has the speed and the arm to play there. He has the build and strength of someone who can drive the ball.

Consistency, though, has been an issue, and despite getting 183 more plate appearances this year, his home run and RBI totals went down, as did his batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. That doesn't bode well for a guy who's 28 and trying to make it as an everyday big leaguer.

"John Mayberry Jr. got a chance to play quite a bit and at times did rather well, and at other times was inconsistent," Amaro said.

When 2011 Gold Glove winner Placido Polanco went on the disabled list, the Phillies tried putting Ty Wigginton and Mike Fontenot at third base. It was ugly.

So Frandsen was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Polanco's place. He provided such a spark offensively that even when Polanco returned, Frandsen remained the starting third baseman.

By the time the season ended, Frandsen had multi-hit games in 19 of his 49 starts and his 37 hits in August were tied for third in the National League. But it hardly sounds as though Manuel would be happy with him as the starting third baseman

"He can definitely be a utility player or a platoon player, something like that," Manuel said. "I'm not saying he can't play regular, I'm saying he could fit on our team and make us better in that capacity.

"We always could play a third baseman [in the past] that wasn't required to hit for power because we had Jimmy [Rollins] and Chase [Utley] and [Ryan] Howard on our infield that did that. We had outfielders (Jayson Werth and Pat Burrell) that hit 25 to 30 home runs, had 100 runs scored and had 75 RBIs."

Frandsen, 30, had two home runs and 14 RBIs in 195 at-bats in 2012.

It was only 12 games, but the hype surrounding Ruf seemed justified. After hitting 38 home runs during the regular season in the minors and one more during Double-A Reading's playoff run, the 26-year-old used his quick, compact swing to hit three homers in 33 at-bats with the Phillies.

The concern, though, is defense. Ruf's best position is first base, but he won't play there for years to come if he stays in the Phillies organization because of Howard's productivity. So the club tried to turn him into a left fielder this year. He was out there for fewer than two dozen games with Reading and then six more with the Phillies.

The hope is they'll see good things from him during the Venezuelan Winter League.

"Right now we don't know whether he can play the outfield or not," Amaro said. "We're going to assess him all offseason while he's in Venezuela. He swung the bat pretty well for us. We don't know what he is yet."